It’s Virus Season: Has your computer had its check up?

As we hear all the reports about the Flu virus going around and everybody feeling sluggish, is your computer feeling sluggish? Are you slow getting started in the morning? Well your computer could be too!

Some viruses can erase all the information from the place where its stored on the computers hard drive. But each virus is different. Some display strange messages on your computer screen; others make small changes in your computer programs. Where do these viruses come from? They certainly dont float around in the air like some human viruses. Instead, like any other computer program, a human must create them.

Why do people create them? Its hard to say. Some people create viruses as a challenge and others to gather personal information to use, sell or share. A virus will slow down your system, move or hide data, attempt to install keystroke loggers, or get you to call a hacker to give them money for a scam or identity theft.

How does your computer get a virus? Almost exactly the way humans do. The computer gets exposed to one. Most viruses come through email and it is recommended to not open an email from an unknown source or click on links that have not been verified.

How does a virus spread? Viruses can spread through the use of Facebook, email (usually from know contacts that have been hacked), software exploits or infected websites. A virus may reside on several different places on your hard drive and may require manual removal or a reinstall of data and programs. It is recommended you backup your system regularly to prevent data loss. Today millions of dollars are being spent to rid and protect computer systems from these virus programs.

Commercial and shareware programs have been created with the sole purpose of detecting and fixing suspect programs that may be infected. These detection programs should be run on a regular basis.